Patrick Beverley is the night’s MVP
Patrick Beverley couldn’t have picked a better time to have one of the best games of his career.
Down 10 points with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the LA Clippers looked like they were out of the game. The offense had been off all night, and Boston was finally getting hot after missing a majority of their looks from three-point range in the first half.
And then, Beverley, who came into the game shooting 18.9 percent from deep, drained a three-pointer. LA trailed by seven.
A few minutes later, he hit another. LA trailed by four.
He wouldn’t hit again until overtime, which is when he truly left his mark.
Beverley scored six of his 14 points and all but four of the Clippers’ points in overtime, thanks to two clutch three-pointers that put LA up for good. The latter made it a two-possession game with 43.9 seconds left and was ultimately what did the Celtics in.
In all, Beverley recorded 14 points, a career-high 16 rebounds (against one of the best rebounding teams in the league, mind you), seven assists, three steals and two blocks. He was a game-high +17 too, tied with Paul George.
Beverley made his presence felt on defense as well, as usual. Aside from the five stocks (steals and blocks), he made it difficult for Boston to score. Have a look at his matchup data, per NBA Stats:
- Kemba Walker: 0-3 FG, 2 blocks
- Jayson Tatum: 2-5 FG, 1 turnover
- Jaylen Brown: 0-2 FG, 1 turnover
- Marcus Smart: 0-1 FG
Walker had a rough night in particular, finishing with 13 points on 4-17 field goals. Maurice Harkless kept him in check as well, holding him to 1-3 shooting and forcing three turnovers.
In short, the Clippers don’t win this game without Beverley. He made his presence felt on both ends of the floor, and his timely buckets from three-point range ignited a run by the Clippers that determined the outcome.